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Talos
, , , Storm | favored weapon = A lightning bolt (longspear, shortspear, or halfspear) | worshipers = Those who fear the destructive power of nature, barbarians, fighters, druids, half-orcs | cleric alignments = CE, CN, NE }} Character and Reputation Talos (taahl-ose) is a violent, short-tempered, and angry deity who exults in chaos and revels in destruction. Often petty and vengeful, the Storm Lord is a powerful bully and is often motivated by rage and the desire never to appear weak or compromising in any way to his followers. Known as Bhaerlros among Calishites and Kozah among the Bedine, Talos appears as a one-eyed, broad-shouldered, and bearded man clad in half plate armor and black leather gloves. His empty eye socket is filled with whirling stars and covered by a dark patch. Clergy and Temples The church of Talos is relatively small for a greater deity and almost universally despised, for his followers bring nothing but destruction and leave only ruin in their wake. They are fanatical in their love of destruction and are unafraid to call storms upon ships, towns, or cities in the name of their crazed deity. However, many fear and propitiate the Storm Lord, ensuring that he remains one of the most powerful deities of the Faerunian pantheon. Talassans pray for their spells at different times of the day over the course of the year, with the time varying with Talos’s whim (he rarely has them stick with the same time of day for more than a tenday). Clerics of Talos celebrate his annual festivals (Greengrass, Midsummer, and so on) with great ceremonies that call down lightning and summon storms. Their most sacred ritual is Calling Down the Thunder, in which they slay an intelligent being by lightning. The most frequently seen ritual is the Fury, in which a cleric prays, then makes berserk attacks on people and items in an effort to visit considerable destruction on a place or encampment within a short time by hurling spells and burning torches while howling Talos’s name, followed by praying again (if the cleric survives). It is considered most holy when performed by a lone Talassan cleric, but against formidable foes, clergy of Talos usually attack together or draw off defenders to destroy them singly. Talos’s clerics tend to multiclass as barbarians, sorcerers, storm lords, and wizards. Those working with the Cult of the Dragon sometimes multiclass as wearers of purple. Talos always has too few worshipers for his liking, so his clergy are sent out into the world to spread word of his might and to try to recruit others to his worship--either out of fear or because such people enjoy the wielding of raw power. As examples to all, the fatalistic clerics of Talos tend to indulge in acts of random or spiteful destruction as they travel and to make examples of all folk who stand up to them from entering a community or passing along a road. Some clerics pillage, burn, and steal as enthusiastically as any brigand, and hamlets that fight them off tend to be visited a season or so later by a gathering of Talassan clerics who try to slaughter everyone and lay waste to the place. This practice had led to some settlements fearfully hiring “adventuring bands in residence” to ward off a similar fate after one or more citizens have had hostile dealings with any Talassan clergy. Talos does not seem to mind clerics who indulge in fulfilling personal desires for wealth, food, luxury items, and wanton behavior as long as they call up a storm or engage in random, spectacular acts of violence once every tenday or so (toppling towers is always effective). As a result, some clergy have taken up a life of brigand. They pose as lunatics in order to spread the word of Talos as ordered, and the rest of the time they adopt disguises to scout out rich prizes. Most Talassan temples and shrines are secret because of the reputation of the church. The worship of Talos is outlawed in many countries. Where there are public temples to Talos, many of them take the form of castles or walled compounds because they must often serve as strongholds that the faithful of Talos can defend against angry folk. Such sites seem to always lie in the path of great storms, on the fault lines of earthquakes, or in path of lava pouring forth from a volcano, yet Talos ensures they always survive unscathed. High clergy of Talos have ceremonial robes of blue-white streaked with crimson that seem to crackle with lightning. All other clergy have formal dress of robes and cloaks of black shot through with teardrops and jagged lines of gold or silver--garb that has earned them the unflattering name “doom crows” in the rare times someone has survived seeing an official ceremony. The robes have jagged hems and rough, uneven sleeves. A black eye-patch is always worn, even if the clergy member has good vision in both eyes. When not performing holy rituals, they tend to dress shabbily and eclectically. Rumors tell of a mysterious group of wizards who specialize in exotic combinations of elemental magic, known as the Lords of the Tempest, that owes allegiance to Talos. Other whispers in dark places speak of Talos’s sponsorship of certain necromancers into lichdom, and of a cabal of crazed sages and mystics intent on bringing about the end of the world. Known only as the Circle of Rust and the Worm, these entropists have sought and obtained the Destroyer as a patron. The church of Talos has no central hierarchy, and low-ranking clerics of the Storm Lord obey their masters only as long as they fear the greater might of the senior clerics. From time to time the church of Talos is wracked by internal warfare, such as was the case recently between the northern-based followers of Talos and the southern-based followers of his alter ego, Bhaelros. However, the Storm Lord generally prefers that his followers wreak devastation on the rest of the world, not each other. History and Relations with other deities Talos was formed from the first battle between Selune and Shar. He is now the leader of the Deities of Fury: Auril, himself, Malar, and Umberlee. Although he has no compunction about usurping her portfolio, Talos has a close and cordial relationship with Auril. His relationship with Umberlee is simultaneously flirtatious and filled with rivalry. However, he only works with the Beastlord grudgingly, and Malar would kill him if he could. Talos has a history of elevating powerful mortals to divinity and then forcing them to deplete themselves in his service, the most recent of which is Velsharoon. Velsharoon has been more successful than most such empowers elevated by Talos, in that he still survives and wisely shifted his nominal alliance to Mystra and Azuth. Talos tried to assume dominion over wild and destructive magic under the alias of Malyk, but he was forestalled by Mystra and has since moved on to other brazen attempts to grab power. He hates deities those that would dare to alter the weather. His list of enemies include Chauntea, Eldath, Lathander, Mystra, Sune, Deneir, Gond, Helm, Mielikki, Oghma, Shiallia, Silvanus, and Tyr. Dogma Life is a combination of random effects and chaos, so grab what you can when you can, because Talos may take you to the afterlife at any moment. Preach the might of Talos, and always warn others of the forces only he can command--the fury of all Faerun. Walk unafraid in storms, forest fires, earthquakes, and other disasters, for the power of Talos protects you. Do so publicly wherever possible, so that others see that only Talos can protect them. Make others fear Talos by showing the destruction he and his servants can cause. To avoid tasting his fury, pray to him energetically and tell all folk that such observances--and only such observances--can protect them from the furies of gales, hailstorms, winds, floods, droughts, blizzards, hurricanes, and other natural dooms. Hurl such forces at one’s foes if Talos deems a place or a person worth defending. One cannot afford to ignore Talos, but must bow down and worship him. Proclaim this message to all and show everyone the destruction even the slightest of the servants of Talos can cause. See Also * Forgotten Realms Wiki References Category:Deities Category:Greater Deities Category:Deities for Neutral Evil Category:Deities for Chaotic Neutral Category:Deities for Chaotic Evil Category:Deities of War and Destruction Category:Any Race Deities